Reporter's Notebook

Yankees

Pettitte's Old Enough To Be Harper's Father

The constant ribbing from his teammates is reminder enough, but if Andy Pettitte needed any more reinforcement that yes, he's ancient in baseball years, it'll come Saturday.

Pettitte celebrated his 40th birthday Friday, and on Saturday, he'll face off against Washington's Bryce Harper—a 19 year old just barely older than Pettitte's son. That drove the moment home, Pettitte said. "It sure does, especially when I got a kid who in three or four months is going be 18, so it's gonna be strange, but you got to go over the scouting reports and try to figure out how to get the kid out," he said.

With Pettitte and Raul Ibanez, and the injured Mariano Rivera still on the 40-man roster, manager Joe Girardi's club boasts three players older than 40, more than any other team in baseball. "We got two 40-year-old guys in there now, and one on the DL," Girardi said. "It's really pretty amazing. Time goes fast. It's hard to believe [Pettitte's] 40 years old. As long as he's around, I still feel young."

—Daniel Barbarisi

Mets

New Mets Prospect A Big Derek Jeter Fan

The Mets newest prospect certainly knows how to ingratiate himself with New York fans—but not necessarily the right ones.

Gavin Cecchini,
who the Mets selected 12th overall in this month's draft, took batting practice at Citi Field on Friday before meeting with the media. He wore uniform No. 2—and not because of
Justin Turner,
who currently owns No. 2 for the Mets. "
Derek Jeter
's
my favorite player," said Cecchini, a high-school shortstop out of Louisiana. "The reason he's my favorite player is because he plays the game hard always."

"Can we strike that from the record?" responded
Sandy Alderson,
the Mets' general manager.

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